Most Christians believe that Jesus will return one
day to save them from us godless heathens and "take them up into the
clouds"--but if they actually read their bibles they would realize that
it ain't gonna happen. Nope, never. See the following excerpt from our
book which explains why:
"Although
Christianity was practiced shortly after the supposed “death” of Jesus
Christ, in the Roman Empire it only became a driving force via the
influence of the Roman Emperor, Constantine I (272-337 CE), and those
that came after him. Before Constantine in the first century CE, there
is little written record of those who practiced Christianity. The
reasons why probably stem from the fact that the few followers of Christ
at that time believed that Jesus would return "within their lifetimes,"
as Jesus said he would:
“When you are persecuted in one
place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going
through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Matthew 10:23
“For the Son of Man is going to come
in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each
person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are
standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man
coming in his kingdom.” Matthew 16:27-28
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Matthew 24:34
If
the followers of Jesus believed he would return within their lifetimes
and they would soon be entering the Kingdom of Heaven, then they had no
reason to record anything, or paint pretty pictures. Most likely it is
for this reason that the first century CE gives us almost no evidence of
Christian art, history, or literature. This was a 30-40 year gap in
time where virtually nothing was recorded until the gospel of Mark, and
this makes sense if believers in Jesus believed his return was imminent.
Instead of writing and painting pretty pictures, believers probably
spent their time getting themselves ready for Jesus' supposed imminent
return.
Christian
Apologists attempt to explain the above passages from Matthew by
claiming that Jesus was explaining events that "had not yet happened."
This is true of course, but the scriptures make it clear that these
events that "had not yet happened" were supposed to have happened within
the lifetimes of the apostles. Apologist explanations fail, as their
claims that events "not happened yet" could happen at any time, and "no
one knows the day or the hour" (Matt 25:36), do not take into
consideration that Jesus is speaking only in the context of "THEM,"
i.e., his disciples. Jesus also says in the text to, "Watch out that no
one deceives YOU." (Matt 24:4), which is ironic, as Jesus fails to
include all future generations in this warning. Why? Because there was
no need to do so, as Jesus believed he would return within the
generation of his disciples. As Matthew 24 continues, Jesus made this
clear in a way most won't recognize, when he stated that when he
returned:
"Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." Matt 24:41
In
these passages, Jesus was speaking directly to his apostles and in the
context of his society, which is very important to recognize if one
considers the above passage to be a prophetic message--which many do.
The above passage speaks of primitive hand mills which are not used in
the modern world except perhaps in remote areas of Africa, which leads
us, via Ockham's Razor, to the best conclusion concerning this
narrative. Considering his language, and to whom he was speaking, and
the prophetic signs he made of his return, it is clear that Jesus
expected to return within the generation of his disciples as he said he
would, but he did not know exactly what time that would be. (Although,
since he is claimed to be one with God, which means he would have been
all-knowing, his time of return SHOULD have been known to him.) In the
Bible, as in the dictionary, a generation is a generation after all--not
2000 or more years. Therefore, the time for the supposed return of
Jesus Christ has long passed, and is a "failed prophecy."
So there you go--Biblical proof that Jesus ain't comin' back.
